Famous Deaf People

No Hearing People Here!

Deaf people have been more in the spotlight than you know.

There are several famous deaf people who have been the founders of many organizations, been pioneers in deaf education, written books, painted famous artworks, held world records in sports, acted on several well-known television shows, and even started newspapers…

Famous Deaf People in Education

Alice Cogswell – Alice was the young deaf girl who inspired Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet to devote his life to educating the deaf.

Laurent Clerc – Met Gallaudet in Europe and returned with him to the United States and together, started the first school for the deaf in the US.

I. King Jordan – After the Deaf President Now (DPN) protest, he became the first deaf president of Gallaudet University.

Andrew Foster – The first deaf African-American to graduate from Gallaudet. He also was the founder of many schools for the deaf in Africa.

Dr. Gerard Buckley – President of National Technical Institute for the Deaf, NTID. First alumni to be president of NTID.

Robert F. Panara – The first faculty member at RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, a beloved teacher, founding member of the national Theatre of the Deaf, and honored by the World Federation of the Deaf for his contributions to education and culture.

T. Alan Hurwitz – The tenth president of Gallaudet University who also served as President of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and as Vice President and Dean of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

Rocky Miller – Deaf teacher at Century High School and Mayo High School.

Gerilee Gustason – Co-developer of SEE, deaf from young age (5) due to menengitis, taught at Gaulladet, has PhD in teaching, and adopted a deaf daughter.

Ella Mae Lentz – Well known Deaf American author, poet, teacher, and advocate. Widely known in the Deaf community for her poetry, she was awarded the Kappa Gamma Poetry Award at Gallaudet University and is part of the Deaf Bilingual Coalition.

Andrew Foster – The first black deaf person to receive a Bachelor’s Degree from Gallaudet College and established 31 schools for the deaf in thirteen African countries.

Dr. Jane Fernandes – First born deaf of deaf person to be selected President of a hearing university (Guilford College). She previously served as Provost of the University of North Carolina, Asheville and also held the post of Vice Chancellor of the University of North Carolina system.

Glenn Anderson – The first deaf black man to receive his PhD in the United States.

Dr. Douglas Burke – Founder of The Southwest College for the Deaf in Big Spring Texas.

Phyllis Frelich – A very well respected deaf actress who won the Tony Award for Best Actress for her role as Sara in the Broadway version of Children of a Lesser God and acted on shows such as E.R. and Diagnosis Murder as well as Love is Never Silent, the made-for-tv movie.

Amy Ecklund – Played Abigail on the soap opera, Guiding Light.

C.J. Jones – A very intelligent and talented African-American deaf actor and comedian. He has performed in many plays, TV shows, and films.

Howie Seago – Starred in the feature film, Beyond Silence.

Anthony Natale – Most famous for his role in Mr. Holland’s Opus.

Shoshannah Stern – Best known for playing Holly Brodeen in Threat Matrix, Bonnie Richmond in Jericho, and Megan Graves on Weeds.

Christy Smith – Was the deaf contestant on a season of Survivor.

Terrylene – Played Laura Williams on the TV program, Beauty and the Beast.

Halle Berry – 2001 Best Actress Academy Award winner claims that she has 80% hearing loss in one ear due to domestic abuse.

Kelly Monaco – Actress who plays “Sam” on daytime soap General Hospital once stated that she has some hearing loss due to an accident while portraying a lifeguard on a FOX television program years ago.

Katie Leclerc – American actress who has appeared on several television series, including Veronica Mars and Fashion House. In 2011, she received a lead role on the show Switched at Birth, starring as Daphne Vasquez.

Ryan Lane – Deaf actor with a role in the Dummy Hoy documentary and on television shows such as Switched at Birth, Cold Case, and House MD.

Ann Marie “Jade” Bryan – First black Deaf female filmmaker to graduated from Tisch School of the Arts, NYU; first black Deaf filmmaker to produce an indie feature film, If You Could Hear My Own Tune and with a majority of Deaf actors of color; founder of DeafVision Filmworks and Jade Films and Entertainment.

Jonathan Kovacs – Former American deaf child actor who was a regular character on The Family Tree and a semi-regular character during season nine of Little House on the Prairie.

Matthew Watkins – Deaf actor who played the deaf son of a doctor on the popular television series, ER.

Holly Hunter – American actress who starred in The Piano for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She received Oscar nominations for her roles in Thirteen, The Firm, and Broadcast News. She’s also received two Emmy’s and six Golden Globe nominations. Hunter is profoundly deaf in one ear from a bout with mumps during childhood.

Justin LeBlanc – A contestant on the show Project Runway from Season 12.

Eric Sykes – An English television, film, and radio writer, director, and actor whose career spanned over 50 years.

Dr. Wonder’s Workshop – A children’s national television show airing since 2007. The cast includes many Deaf people including: David O. Reynolds, Jonathan A. Reynolds, Justin T. Reynolds, Janet Schwall, Tiffany Hoglind, and James Parker. (https://www.drwonder.com)

Gaius Lee DuPree – First Deaf baby actor, at 9 months old, to work in a film. His first movie is The Devil’s Night (2014). (https://www.imdb.me/gaiuslee)

Hillary Baack – Deaf actress who recently starred as Eve in Zal Batmanglij’s film The East.

Greg Anderson – Deaf actor who played Brian Clemonds (the deaf man hit by a car) on CSI: Sounds of Silence (2001). He appeared on Sesame Street in 2005 and performed in the National Theatre of the Deaf.

Kristin Chenoweth – A famous singer and actress who has appeared in film, television, and musical theater. Her credits include Wicked, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The West Wing, and Pushing Daisies. She suffers from Meniere’s disease which can cause varying degrees of hearing loss.

Stephen Colbert – An American comedian, actor, author, and host of the Late Show. He is deaf in his right ear.

Nyle DiMarco – The first deaf contestant on America’s Next Top Model.

James Cude – Profoundly deaf award winning film and television editor who received an Emmy nomination for the MTV documentary Got Your 6.

Nanette Fabray – Award winning actress and advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities.

Stephanie Nogueras – Deaf actress, model, and activist who plays Natalie on Switched at Birth and appeared as a guest star on Grimm.

Famous Deaf Musicians

Marko Vuoriheimo “Signmark” – Deaf rapper from Finland and the first deaf person to sign a record deal with an international recording company.

Johnnie Ray – American singer, pianist, and songwriter who was deaf in one ear due to a childhood accident. He was very popular for most of the 1950s and is known to have played a major part in what would become rock and roll.

Darius McCall – Also known as “Prinz-D”, Darius is a deaf rapper from Alabama. He has two self-made albums and is on the way to completing his third.

Ludwig van Beethoven – Was completely deaf for the last part of his life and yet managed to produce some of the greatest music of all time.

James Lee Taylor III – Deaf Rapper from the South Bronx on NY Daily Newspaper and City Limits Magazine. His story has been told in the book Train Go Sorry.

Ayumi Hamasaki – Famous Japanese performer and musician who is deaf in her left ear.

Bernard Bragg – a Deaf performer, writer, director, poet, and artist. He was a founder of The National Theater of the Deaf and is “regarded by many as the leading professional deaf actor in the country”.

Iosif Schneiderman – Deaf mime and professional actor who grew up in Russia and has performed all over the world. He directed the grand opening of DeafWay II in 2001 and co-wrote and starred in the internationally acclaimed award winning play, “Deaf Snow White” produced by Cleveland Sign Stage Theatre.

Charlotte Lamberton – The most well known deaf dancer in the 1930s and 1940s, internationally, in Hollywood and on Broadway.

Kathy Buckley – Famous deaf comedian and motivational speaker.

Daniel Durant – Deaf actor known for his role in Deaf West Theater’s Cyrano.

Maya Ariel – Deaf actress who played Sarah in the first Deaf/hearing production of Guys and Dolls, Jo March in an all Deaf production of Little Women, and was featured in the TV show What Would You Do?

Troy Chapman – First Deaf black actor to win the NYC Best Actor award from the Off Off Broadway Showcase Committee in 2007 for his role as Brutus Jones in Emperoro Jones at the IRT Theater in NYC. He has also starred in Othello, Raisin in the Sun, Damn Yankees, Guys and Dolls, and is a founding member of the ASL Poetry performance group called “Dangerous Signs”.

Famous Deaf People in the Media

Laura C. Redden Searing – First deaf female journalist.

Julius Wiggins – Creator of Silent News, the newspaper of the Deaf Community.

Barry Strassler – Editor of DeafDigest.net and well known sports writer for the deaf community.

Suzanne Robitaille – Deaf American journalist who has worked at BusinessWeek and The Wall Street Journal. She is the author of The Illustrated Guide to Assistive Technology, founder of abledbody.com, and board member of the National Center on Disability and Journalism.

Opeoluwa Sotonwa – An African-American deaf attorney and literary writer. He currently serves as the Vice President of National Black Deaf Advocates Inc., the nation’s civil rights organization of deaf people of color, where he has become a pivotal source of resourcefulness to the NBDA.

Dr. Phillip Zazove – Deaf doctor in Ann Arbor, Michigan and a head of the University of Michigan Medical School’s Department of Family Medicine.

Joseph Henry Sharp – Famous deaf artist and one of the founding members of the Taos Society of Artists, a group that produced some of the most significant artwork in American history.

Tommy Motswai – Well known deaf artist living in South Africa who was chosen as the Standard Bank Artist of the year during the Grahamstown Arts Festival and has had national as well as international exhibitions.

Carlisle Robinson – An up and coming comic author and artist.

Famous Deaf Writers

Stevie Platt – The deaf author of the books Go to the Hill and The Last Servant.

George William Veditz – Was a former president of National Association of the Deaf of the United States and was one of the first to film American Sign Language.

Allison Lam – Deaf firefighter.

Gregory Hlibok – First person with a disability to be appointed by the FCC to the head of its Disability Rights Office.

Rhulin Thomas – First deaf aviator to fly coast to coast.

John Gotti – Boss of the most powerful organized crime family in the USA. He was deaf in one ear.

Erastus Deaf Smith – A revered Texas scout, guide, and spy and is famous for the important role he played in the Texas Revolution.

Kunle Adegboye – CEO at Morayo Communications, Morayocare & Morayowireless and a role model to many young Nigerians with his line: “Disability is in the mind”.

Claudia Gordon – First deaf female African American lawyer. She was also the first deaf student to graduate from the American University Washington DC College of Law.

Tanya Wyatt-Dennis – First black deaf hospice medical social worker, the first to graduate from Wayne State University Social Worker Program in 1997 with a Master of Social Work degree, and the first black deaf school social worder to work for Detroit Public School.

Ginger Jee – Well-respected deaf Disability Rights Advocate in New York tri-state area. Artist and former actress on the television show “Criminal Intents”. An expert in all disability rights laws and fights for all deaf access across America.

Roberto E. Wirth – A deaf world famous hotelier. Voted into the Hall of Fame of hoteliers as the Best Hotelier of the World in 2005.

Dr. Carolyn Stern – Deaf doctor in Rochester.

Rie Saito – A famous Japanese hostess who used hitsuden (written communication) to interact with her clients. She wrote the book “The Hostess With a Pen.”

Bill Clinton – Former president of the United States has a hearing loss due to age and the time he spent playing the saxophone in his youth.

Becky Brown-Center – First Deaf female pilot in Dayton, Ohio and in the state of Ohio to get a pilot’s license in 1986. Possibly the third deaf female pilot in America and former DPA member.

Jenelle Joanne Ramsami – Deaf FHM model from South Africa.

Keith Nolan – A Deaf man well known for fighting to join the US Military.

Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Kakon – A well-known and respected deaf Rabbi of the first deaf Jewish high school of its kind in the world, Yeshivas Nefesh Dovid (YND), founded in 2001.

Dr. Hart Bressler, MD – Canada’s first deaf medical physician who is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine as well as a full-time family physician and maintains a clinic that specializes in chronic pain management. He studied at Yeshiva University of Los Angeles and was instrumental in working with Rabbi Kakon to establish the Yeshiva in Toronto.

Jenelle Joanne Ramsami – Finalist in the Miss Deaf South Africa pageant 2009/2010, awarded the “Fresh Look” title at Miss India South Africa KZN 2010 contest, recently made the Top 5 and ‘Miss Photogenic’ for the Xtreme Models Search competition in February 2011 and FHM top 20 model, and the only partially deaf woman to compete.

Casar Jacobson – Hard of hearing woman best known as the winner of Miss Canada 2013 and Deaf International Entrepreneur. She has a Masters Degree in Genetics and is a speaker and contributing author to New York Times best seller Simple Reminders.

Sir John Worchup Cornforth – Deaf British chemist who was the corecipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his research on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalyzed reactions.

Timothy Owens – One of the founders of the Deaf Youth Sports Festival (www.mdoyouth.org and former president of ASLTA before he passed away November 2015. Owens was a professor at University of Louisville for many years and received the George Veditz award from ASLTA as well as awards from WGD, Gallaudet, MDO, RID, and more.

Was a former president of National Association of the Deaf of the United States and was one of the first to film …

Robert HoskinThe 48 year old Australian named Robert Hoskin is a well-known deaf filmmaker who has won several film awards from his short films shot in 35mm film format …

Did We Miss Someone? Acknowledge Them!

This page is meant to acknowledge all the wonderful achievements of famous deaf people. There are so many deaf people who deserve to be on this list!

Do you know of a famous deaf person who is not on this list? Do you want to add a longer biography for a person already listed? Share your appreciation in the comments below!

Comments

L. Hatfield

Rush Limbaugh really should not be included on this list. Yes, he is deaf (has a hearing loss) but he is not Deaf, not aware of the Deaf community nor knowledgeable about ASL. I feel this list should be about Deaf people in the Deaf community, not people who have a hearing loss.

We believe it can actually be very interesting to learn about famous people who have a hearing loss but are not involved in the Deaf community at all. As people become more aware of the Deaf community they start to wonder why these people may not have embraced their hearing loss a bit more. In this article, we try to make it clear who is “Deaf” versus who is “deaf” or hard of hearing.